Carson: US Should Have Travel Ban for Ebola-Afflicted Countries

15 Oct 2014

Dr. Ben Carson, Professor Emeritus at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center, argued the US should implement a travel ban on countries with outbreaks of the Ebola virus as a “minimal” precaution, and that the US should ramp up efforts to combat the disease in Africa on Wednesday’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto” on the Fox News Channel.

“Travel ban is minimal [in terms of protection]. What we really need to do is get the resources in there, get the equipment in there, get the people in there and stop it there” he said.

Carson argued “what we have to recognize is that the world health organization has really sounded the alarm on what could happen here…for the most we’re very good here. But the problem is this is raging in Western Africa, and we’re not really, all I’m hearing are stories about there not being enough isolation gear, enough personnel, and it’s spreading like crazy. If we don’t get it under control there, it’s going to come here, no matter how good our protocols are. Somehow that message has to be gotten across to those in authority.”

He also stated that CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden should not resign, calling him “a very excellent person,” adding, “I recognize he’s in a political situation, and he can’t be completely free to say what he wants to say, but replacing him probably is not useful, because he’s got a learning curve like everybody else does.”

Carson did declared the US government was “in the process of botching,” its Ebola response, but could recover.

He recommended, “we should be getting in the real experts in this disease, and in the transmission and quickly putting together the right kind of protocols and everybody who has been in contact with the disease should be strictly monitored, and it shouldn’t be left up to them. They shouldn’t be doing self-monitoring, this is too important.”